


By the fireside

by GingerBreton



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Nightmares, Regret, Reminiscing, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 21:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17231789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GingerBreton/pseuds/GingerBreton
Summary: Written for tumblr kiss prompt - forehead kiss.Alistair and Ysabelle share a moment early one morning.





	By the fireside

Dawn was creeping over the horizon, spilling slivers of pink light across the underside of the cloud banks that drifted lazily across the sky. A fresh breeze rustled the leaves on the trees surrounding the clearing where the wardens’ party had made camp. Dew traced lines down the canvas of the hastily erected tents, soaking boots that had foolishly been left out overnight. The clearing was silent save for the quiet murmur of conversation coming from around the fire. 

It hadn’t been his watch, but Alistair had woken hours before sunrise, drenched in cold sweat from the nightmares about failure that had plagued him of late. He’d tried to get back to sleep but to no avail, so he had pulled on some clothes and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders to protect against the pre-dawn chill in the air. Sat cross-legged by the fire he’d found Ysabelle, jabbing absentmindedly at the embers with a stick, passing the time until her companions woke and they could continue on their journey. 

Draped across her lap was the Bann, snores rumbling from his throat. She smiled when she saw Alistair across the clearing, patting the ground next to the mabari. 

“Good morning,” she whispered, as he settled himself down beside her, “you’re up early.”

“Well, you know how it is,” he wracked his brain for a decent excuse. One that didn’t include the screams of dead men. “I didn’t want to miss the best part of the day.”

“Hmm, yes. Night time.” 

She gave a sidelong look. One he’d come to recognise as meaning ‘very well, Theirin, keep your secrets for now. I know you’ll tell me eventually’. He knew he would. She never pressed, it was like he asked and answered the questions himself and all she had to do was be his audience.

And so, they had talked in hushed whispers for those few hours before dawn. He’d asked about her family back in Denerim. He liked to hear her talk about home, enjoyed the glazed look and the small smile she would get when she thought about them, but most of all he enjoyed getting tantalising glimpse into what it might have been like to grow up with a real family of his own. These were topics he never touched on with Aedan, the wounds were still too raw to subject the boy to thinking about his past. He saved them for these increasingly regular late night talks he had with Izzy. Her stories always made him laugh, so much so that she was constantly having to shush him for fear that he would wake the whole camp. 

“Your family sound wonderful,” he’d told her with a wistful sigh, imagining how different life would have been growing up travelling Ferelden with the merchant caravans.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. But they’re normal and, in a world like this, what more could I ask for?” She was silent for a moment, brow furrowed, before tilting her head to the side as she regarded him, “When it’s safe, to go back to Denerim, I mean… would you want to meet them?” 

He’d felt the grin spread across his face before he’d even had a chance answer, “Yes, I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.” Was it just his imagination, or was there an unusual shyness to her smile? 

Her brow furrowed again, “I’ve talked them up a bit, haven’t I? I hope you won’t be disappointed.”

“Disappointed? How could I be? If anything, I’d be the disappointment.” 

Here came the words, tumbling out when he didn’t mean them to. The warmth had turned to concern in her eyes, and he had no idea how to dig himself out of this verbal hole, so instead he dived in headfirst. 

“It’s just that sometimes I wonder what my family, such that it was, would make of me now. Nothing I’m involved in ever seems to work out. Now here we are, traipsing across the country trying to put back together yet another part of my life that fell apart right in front of my eyes.”

_Way to ruin the mood, Alistair. You’ve really gone and said too much this time_ , he winced. 

He nearly jumped at the unexpected feeling of a hand brush his jaw, gently turning him to face Ysabelle. Straining to lean over the mabari, who was still sprawled across her lap, she pulled his head within reach and pressed a kiss to his forehead. His breath caught in his throat. Her lips were softer than he’d imagined, but the kiss pressed so firmly to his skin that he could feel the little cut on her bottom lip that she’d acquired during a recent skirmish. Caught in the early morning breeze, her hair brushed against his cheek, smelling like wood-smoke from the hours they’d spent by the fire. 

All to quickly it was over, before he’d had time to commit to memory the warmth of her breath ruffling his hair, or the sensation of having someone that close to him.

“They’d be proud of you, Alistair. They’d be fools not to be.” 

She meant it. He could tell she did, whether he believed it or not. She was still close enough for him to make out the deep rivers of blue hidden within the green of her eyes. He sincerely hoped a blush wasn’t marking the heat he could feel in his cheeks. 

She pulled back, as though suddenly aware of how close she was to him. Dislodging the disgruntled hound, she got to her feet, stretching out the aches acquired from hours sat on the damp forest floor. The sky had lightened significantly in the time they’d been talking, the chatter of the dawn chorus confirming that it was time to rouse the rest of their companions. 

“Alistair,” She’d stopped just a few paces into her journey, as if a thought had grabbed her and wouldn’t let go, “we’re your family now.”

**Author's Note:**

> This one shot features my Warden Ysabelle and Alistair Theirin, both featured in my long fic (The Time for Vigilance is Over).


End file.
